Sharing Personal Experiences

 It is such a pleasure when our children share their personal experiences with one another. A few weekends ago, one of our children visited "a different Toronto" with his family. His parents were kind enough to take some photos of their trip to share with the class. With our inquiry on skyscrapers still going strong, the picture show was a wonderful success! Some the children's ideas about Toronto, the CN Tower, cities and skyscrapers were validated...and of course, some exciting conversations and questions came about. My favourite part? The sound of 26 little voices saying, "WHOA!" with the switching of the each photo. Thanks for bringing Toronto to us!



-"I was up in the CN Tower...we took it [the picture] in the circle." (at the top of the CN Tower)
- "It's poking through the clouds!"
-"You can see other towers."

Our presenter ran his hand on our brightlinks, up the tower. He mentioned that he took an elevator to the top, but that there were also stairs.The children also discussed what material the CN Tower was made out of. Our presenter thought it might have been cardboard, others thought wood. There were many ideas...
-"It's not wood!"
- "It's big blocks."
-"It's bricks."



"I was walking on the glass floors. I saw the pieces outside" shares our presenter.
"You saw the brick?" asks a friend.
Our presenter nods, yes.
-"Is the glass floor glass?"
-"Ya, when you look down you can see the bottom."
"What if you were scared? Were you scared?"
"I was just okay. I saw the mini cars."
Miss. S: "What are mini cars?"
"When you go in the CN Tower, they are mini cars when you look at them."
One student helped to clarify our presenters thinking:
-"They are big when you are close and little when you are far."

"You can't see all the way up because it's too big."

Miss. S: "How many skyscrapers do you see?"

"That's the zoo!"
"No, that's the dinosaur place."
"It's called a museum."
"The pointy things are pointy that way" (child uses his fingers to point in different directions)

"I see a timer."
"That's the clock for Toronto."

 As an extension to this inquiry we have been busy planning a trip to explore our own city; downtown Cambridge and the School of Architecture to learn how structures truly come to life. We hope to share some photos of this experience with you in the upcoming weeks.